Latest Updates

• Wednesday, February 17 2021 at 16:51

  Dear Parents,

  Planning Ahead for our Different Sections

  As we think ahead to after the February break, we want to share our current planning for the learning schedules in each of our sections.

  It is not easy to predict how the level of infections will track in the weeks ahead. Our first assumption is that we will most likely remain in the yellow scenario (1-3 infections per thousand) in Voluntari through to the end of February. There are implications for the Secondary section if we move into the green or red scenario, described below. The ELC and Elementary can remain in operation until the rate of infection reaches 6 per thousand.

  1. ELC: The ELC will continue to be open for a full-day programme using a very similar model as is in place currently.
  2. Elementary: The Elementary Section is planning to move to a full-day programme for all grades from 1 to 5 after the February break.
  3. Secondary: In the yellow scenario, the Secondary section will continue with the adapted model but will make some adjustments to increase the time for students on campus.

  Further details of these changes in each section can be found at the end of this letter. The Leadership Team will meet during the break to analyse the situation and communicate with you on Saturday, February 27th to confirm these schedules for Monday, March 1st.

  Air Purification Units

  We are pleased to let you know that the installation of air purification units has begun. This process will be completed across the whole campus by the end of the February break. The implementation of this technology will provide three main benefits:

  1. Eliminate any potential build-up of virus particles in a space, so it will be safe to stay in a classroom or workspace all day.
  2. Allow us to increase the number of people who can safely be in a particular space, as long as we maintain the other health prevention measures, because the overall air quality issues will be maintained at constantly healthy levels.
  3. Allow teachers to close doors and windows safely without the need to ventilate the rooms.

  Please note that this technology does not eliminate the risk of close contact with someone carrying the virus. It is important that we all keep masked and maintain physical distancing in one-to-one personal interactions on-campus.

  COVID Cases on Campus

  The Covid Response Team (CCRT) continues to process all reported COVID cases in our community. Since reopening the campus we have had several reported infections or close contacts off-campus, but only one confirmed case on-campus. This was in the Elementary section. It resulted in one pod closing until the February break and one being closed for one day as a precaution until the teachers tested negative. Today, we are currently tracking two other on-site cases and will inform families if these result in pod closures.

  Please continue to report any cases to the CCRT team – ccrt@goaisb.ro

  Activities During the Break

  We are happy to announce that we are opening our facilities for use during the February break! You can sign up to use one of the four spaces through this link. The facilities will be available on Saturday, February 20 and then from Wednesday, February 24 to Saturday, February 27. Only one family can book a space at a time. We look forward to seeing some of you on campus next week!

  Travel During the Break

  As we approach the break, we ask you to follow all travel guidelines and rules for quarantining carefully. If you travel overseas to a country currently on the yellow list, it is important that you keep your children at home in distance learning for the required quarantine period after you return. The yellow list, currently from this Monday, is here. The reality is that most international travel, especially within Europe, is restricted currently. Travellers who arrive in Romania from the countries on the list and present a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours before entry into Romania are still required to quarantine for 10 days. Those who don’t have such a test have to quarantine for 14 days.

  All of us at AISB wish you a restful and happy February break.

  Peter Welch
  Director

  Here is a summary of the schedule changes planned in each section after the February break:

  EARLY LEARNING CENTER

  • Allowing all of our specialist teachers to use indoor environments to engage students (within the same pod) in art, music, movement, social-emotional learning, and literacy-related lessons.

  Ms. Rosella Diliberto – ELC Principal, rdiliberto@goaisb.ro

  ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

  Current pods of up to ten students will gradually be combined back into homeroom classes of up to 20 students. A homeroom class will now be considered as a ‘pod’ and will have limited interaction with other classes.

  • Grade 2 to 5 students will have lunch in the cafeteria – one grade at a time. This is well within the current Romanian health guidelines of less than 30% occupancy in such spaces. Please reach out to Flavours (Octavian Stoica <manager.stradaleaisb@flavours.ro>) should you wish to order lunch from school.
  • Each grade level will be assigned one art or music teacher to avoid cross-grade level exchanges. These teachers will rotate every second week; therefore, your child will receive either art or music every day and then will rotate to the other subject every second week.
  • The students will remain in the homeroom classes for language lessons (French, Romanian, Spanish, EAL); these lessons will continue to be delivered through Zoom. All students in grades 2 to 5 will need to bring a set of headphones with an integrated microphone.
  • On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday dismissal will be between 2:45 and 3:00 pm. Wednesday dismissal will be between 1:45 to 2:00 pm. Grade 1 will return to a dismissal by the grade 1 doors (as in the fall).

  If you would prefer for your child to join the Modified Distance Learning program, please email Elyane Ruel at eruel@goaisb.ro.

  Ms. Elyane Ruel – Elementary Principal, eruel@goaisb.ro

  SECONDARY SCHOOL

  If we open in the yellow scenario, the most significant planned changes include:

  • Our Wednesday schedule will welcome all secondary grades to campus, for advisory sessions, co-curricular activities, and classes, using the same timetable as for all the other days.
  • Grade 11 and 12 students will attend full days of learning on campus, every day from 9:00 am to 4:15 pm
  • Grade 6 – 10 students will see their current pods combined into full classes of up to 20 students, due to the health and safety provisions referenced in this communication
  • Grade 8 classes will return to our secondary building, and by doing so, allow the elementary to return to a full day
  • Grade 9 and 10 students will gain an additional class on campus, extending their day from 12:30 pm to 4:15 pm, and will be treated as a full grade cohort (allowed to mix with the same year students in certain elective classes)

  The Secondary school will have to move back to distance (online) learning if Voluntari moves back to the red scenario. In the case of Voluntari moving into the green scenario, which seems unlikely in the short term, the secondary school would transition back to a full-time on-campus schedule.

  Mr. Viktor Novakovski – Secondary Principal, vnovakovski@goaisb.ro

• Thursday, January 28 2021 at 14:37

  Dear Parents,

  Reopening Our Campus

  We are counting the days until we can reopen our campus on February 8th, just over one week from now. It will be wonderful to have our students back with us. We await the government’s final decision on February 2nd, but indications are that they will give the go-ahead.

  As we reopen, we will continue to uphold the health principles and practices that have kept our community safe through this pandemic so far. We are mindful of the social and emotional need to have our students on campus and will start trying to extend on-campus times for our youngest learners first of all. Here is how we will proceed on February 8th, section by section:

  Early Learning Center

  In the ELC we are planning for the following two choices:

  Full-Day:

  (8.00-14:50 Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri) (8.00-14.00 Wed)

  In a full-day return to school, we will organize the learning schedule to ensure that strict health and safety guidelines remain at the same level. Updated food and afternoon sleep protocols have been devised to ensure safety. Deep cleaning protocols and carefully maintaining the class pods will avoid transmission of COVID-19 between classes. We strongly recommend that all children in the ELC wear masks for their own safety and that of our faculty. If your family would prefer an early pick-up time in the day, this can be arranged.

  Distance Learning:

  If a family chooses the Distance Learning Model, it should be expected that parental support will be needed to facilitate this learning. Experiences will be heavily weighted to asynchronous learning due to teachers full participation in their full-day programmes. There will be limited classroom teacher interactions via Zoom. The program will be supported by members of the pedagogical leadership team.

  Elementary

  We recognize the unique challenges of the adapted model for our youngest learners. With this in mind and in alignment with our Early Learning program, we will be offering a full-day program to our Grade 1 students. (8.00-14:50 Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri) (8.00-14.00 Wed)
  All grade levels will be organized to ensure that strict health and safety guidelines stay at the same level. Students in Grades 2 to 5 will begin on February 8th using the Adapted Learning Model.

  We will also continue to offer a modified version of our Distance Learning Model for students who are not able to join us on campus.

  Secondary

  We look forward to welcoming all of our grades 6 – 12 back on campus. The Secondary division will open its doors according to the adapted model used previously. We continue to offer the modified distance learning option for our students who are not able to attend our adapted model on campus.

  We will provide you with detailed information through the usual channels, directly to parents by our Secondary leadership, and to our students during their morning homeroom time.

  Parent Survey

  As we navigate this together, we want to give families choices about school attendance based on your comfort level in this health situation. We would appreciate you informing us of your intentions for your children’s attendance on campus by completing this survey as soon as possible and by Monday, February 1st, at the latest. We need this information to plan our class schedules. Please complete the survey for each one of your children.

  Feedback from the Authorities

  As you know, we wrote to the authorities requesting clarifications on the confusion caused by some private schools opening their doors at a time when the government officially closed all schools, both private and public. To this point, we have received two official responses. The Ilfov Inspectorate for Education has communicated the following:
  “I can assure you that, officially, all educational institutions in the network of Ilfov are functioning in distance learning. Some private institutions carry out activities of child care (creche) and after school under the jurisdiction of their legal entity, not under the jurisdiction of their educational entity (through their mother company, foundation, association, SRL). This type of activity is not coordinated by the inspectorate and the Ministry of Education. I have no knowledge of any other aspects or of any “understanding” with the authorities.“

  The Ministry of Health responded at length, repeating the legal framework that is now in place and specifically commenting:
  “The suspension of classes requiring physical attendance of the pre-schoolers and pupils/students was ordered both for the state, as well as for the private educational establishments; at the level of our structure, we do not possess any data concerning the continuation of face-to-face classes, as regards the period between November 9-December 31, 2020 by those schools organized in the private system.”

  “Privately organized after-school programs, outside the educational establishments, are not regulated by the Ministry of Education and they are not subject to any authorization or accreditation process (they are not educational establishments)”

  You can read the full letter here.

  These replies are what we expected and confirmed our understanding that there is no transparent and legal mechanism available to all private schools under which an approval to be open would be provided.

  Next Communications

  Next week, as we hear more from the authorities, we will keep you updated. In the sectional newsletters tomorrow, we will share details of parent and student conversations regarding our next steps for reopening in the weeks ahead. We will also share our COVID response procedures and health practices with you to keep everyone safe on campus.

  Thank you for your support!
  The AISB Leadership Team

• Friday, January 8 2021 at 12:44

  Dear Parents,

  A very Happy New Year to you. I hope you have enjoyed a good break. While 2021 promises positive changes and an end to the pandemic, it looks like we still have some challenging weeks and months ahead until then.

  On a positive note, the vaccination program in Romania has begun this month. It seems clear that educational personnel will be prioritised in this effort. This will be essential to getting our school life back on track.

  The new government and the new Education Minister have stated that schools in Romania will be closed until February 8. So far there has been no new ordinance issued or set of legal guidelines. Until this happens, there remains some uncertainty over this timeline and how schools will be allowed to operate. This conservative governmental approach is based on concerns that the number of COVID cases will rise in Romania through January as a result of people meeting together in the holidays. The authorities are also watching for evidence that the new fast-spreading variants of COVID that have appeared in the UK and South Africa, for example, do not occur here in large numbers.

  The official statistics for COVID infections have actually improved somewhat just recently from where they were in mid-December, although our local area of Ilfov continues to be the most affected area in the country.

  As you know, prior to the break, there was a lack of clarity about local private schools being open despite national rules requiring them to be closed. The Chair of the Board of Trustees, Mr. David Muniz, and I have formally communicated with the local Health Authority in Ilfov (DSP), the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Prefectura for Ilfov. We have asked each authority the same three questions:

  1. To your knowledge, are certain private schools being given special permission to be open?
  2. If this is the case, what is the procedure for securing special permission (given the quality of health infrastructure that AISB has put in place)?
  3. If this is not the case, what steps are being taken to ensure that private schools that do open follow the rules?

  In these communications, we also noted that we are aware certain private schools are using exceptions in the October/November legal framework for “after school” activities to open their doors. We have asked for clarity on the definition and content of these exceptions so that we may know what AISB can legally offer to our community. The Board of Trustees of AISB is absolutely clear in their view that our school will follow a legal strategy at all times. We will share the answers we receive from the local authorities with you transparently.

  Until we receive further information, we expect that classes will resume online next week from Tuesday, January 12th.

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Friday, November 6 2020 at 15:11

  Good Afternoon,

  As a follow-up to this morning’s message, I want to start by acknowledging what a tough, frustrating time this is for all of us, no matter who we are and where we come from. Our ELC and Elementary teachers did a super job to make sure our students left after a positive morning, but for all of us at AISB, it is so sad to see them go home now along with our Secondary students. We have really tried our best to keep our school safe and open for learning as we know how important it is for our students and families. I am proud of the hard work of our professional team to make this happen.

  Unfortunately, the closing of schools in Romania is out of our control. Our understanding is that this ruling applies to all forms of schooling and all age groups for thirty days from next Monday. It continues to be a fast-changing policy and information environment. We will continue to advocate for the best interests of AISB. This national announcement came as a surprise, given that the government had been using a local decision-making model to this point. This week, there had been public discussions that any social restrictions would not include the closing of schools, which is the model being used in different parts of Europe. It is perhaps possible that the closure of school may be reevaluated, particularly for younger children.

  Our team is certainly prepared and ready to move to distance learning for the next period. The Principals and the education team will be in touch with you separately to provide specifics on expectations and schedules.

  Should anything change in the short-term, I will, of course, keep you updated. In the meantime, I wish you a peaceful weekend.

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Tuesday, November 3 2020 at 15:32

  Dear Parents,

  These past few days we had received very few communications about COVID cases. We want so very much to be able to continue our programme without interruptions.

  Unfortunately, today, within one morning, we have had two confirmed cases and one further suspected sibling case in our Elementary section. The two confirmed cases are in Grade 1 and Grade 5. The suspected case is also in Grade 5. We will be in touch with the teachers and parents in the affected classes separately to inform them about arrangements for closing on-campus learning and moving to distance learning.

  As you know, under the rules, with three confirmed cases in one section of the school, we have to move to distance learning for fourteen days. I need to prepare our Elementary parents for this eventuality, given the cases we have processed today.

  We continue to state that the closing of pods is precautionary based on government rules. With our health protocols, we have done everything that we can to minimize the risk of the transmission of the virus between people on campus.

  In Secondary School, we have one confirmed case of a part-time teacher. Her classes were all online and so this does not impact anyone else in our community. We are supporting this family as well and will ask them to get negative tests before returning to campus. Our projected reopening date for Secondary remains Thursday 12th November.

  We have no new reported cases in the ELC. One pod reopened this week. Currently, one pod is closed until next Monday because of a confirmed parent case. The ELC programme continues.

  The Local Situation

  We continue to monitor the local infection rate in Ilfov (1.56) and Voluntari (2.64) more specifically. We understand from the local Prefect that the Voluntari infection rate will be the determining factor in the decision on whether to close our school. We see this number growing towards 3.0, which is the point that has triggered school closures in Bucharest. If we are forced to close, we are ready for distance learning in all sections of the school.

  As this new wave of infections grows across Europe we will wait to see what the Romanian government response will be. So far, public pronouncements have continued to reinforce local level decision-making and resisting a return to the full lockdown that we saw in the spring and early summer.

  You can be in touch with the Covid Response Team (ccrt@goaisb.ro) if you have any questions.

  Please continue to be safe,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Sunday, October 25 2020 at 17:15

  Dear Parents,

  As you probably know, the COVID infection rate in Romania and in our local area continues to be concerning, with the highest official figures yet being recorded in the last few days. The social restrictions in Bucharest are being implemented and more and more people seem to be following mask-wearing rules. The Ilfov infection rate continues to be just above 1.5 per thousand, so, at this level, we remain optimistic that AISB can continue to be open using the Adapted Model for the weeks ahead.

  To reassure you, there continue to be no incidences of COVID being transmitted on campus. To this point, there have been no confirmed cases within our staff or faculty since we reopened our campus.

  Update from the Covid Response Team

  We met this evening to process the latest information that we have. There are quite a large number of cases that have been shared in which parents have been exposed to the virus off-campus and their children are being kept at home as a precaution. When we examine these reports, we ensure that our community has not been exposed on-campus as a result.

  In the ELC, we have one EC4 pod that has been reopened after the required 14 days since the last contact. Another EC4 pod will be closed for one more week. We have just closed a Kindergarten pod for two weeks due to a confirmed parent case. We closed one Grade 3 class as a precaution last week as we were tracking three potential cases. This class will reopen tomorrow.

  Heating

  We are addressing the heating issue at our school as a matter of obvious priority. A professional facilities management company that we are working with has researched different ways of disinfecting the air supplied by our air treatment machines. They have consulted widely. There is complexity here because of the systems that we have, but be assured that we are on it. Thank you for your patience. We are prototyping long-term solutions in different rooms using UV units, and working on other short-term solutions that will ensure that our classroom environments remain healthy with the heating on.

  Events this Week

  We look forward to the Parent-Teacher Conferences this week in Elementary and Secondary. Halloween is coming this week and we will really enjoy seeing our students dressed up for that event. Thank you to our PTO for all their support of these celebrations.

  Please be safe and be well,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Monday, September 21 2020 at 08:50 AM

  Dear Parents,

  When we opened the main campus last week, all the careful and detailed planning for operating safely worked well in practice with the drop-off and pick-up procedures settling into a routine. On Monday, there were obviously many in our community who were anxious or uncertain. By Friday, I heard laughter and saw joy outside and inside our classrooms. Our students responded very well, and I noticed many moments of kindness and appreciation of one another. When I greeted the Grade 10s, for example, every student gave me eye contact and a warm hello when they came through the door.

  Thank you to all parents for your support of our procedures and to the many of you who have taken the time to express thanks to the school and to the teachers.

  Understanding the Local Rules & Regulations

  Although we draw our students from a wide area and we are the largest and most diverse international school in Romania, we are under the authority of Ilfov County for the purpose of decisions on opening schools. The health authorities use a traffic light system of green, yellow, and red based on the local rate of infection to guide schools on how they should be open.

  When Ilfov determines that schools should open using green (an infection rate of less than one per thousand) this does not mean that schools open as normal. It means that schools can have daily attendance by all students in compliance with a long list of protective norms. These include restricting contact between students from different classes and avoiding students changing classrooms during the day.

  In the yellow zone (an infection rate of between one and three per thousand) there are more restrictions on student attendance, and in the red zone (over three infections per thousand) schools are closed and learning goes online. The language in these rules applies to the local education system and does not exactly match the practices of international schools. This is why, prior to reopening, we went through a careful process of getting formal governmental permission for AISB from the to reopen and approval of our Adapted Model of learning.

  Our Adapted Model

  Our Adapted Model is explained in our Reopening Plan and the health principles behind it are detailed in the first video on our dedicated COVID webpage, where we have centralized all our communications. Our half-day schedule is based on three fundamental principles:

  1. Splitting our groups into smaller numbers for health reasons and spreading them out across our campus. It is not possible to have all students in our classrooms at one time and follow this practice.
  2. Maintaining ‘pods’ or ‘bubbles’ of learners that do not mix with others to prevent cross-contamination and to minimize exposure in the event of a COVID case on campus. This necessitates some lessons and subjects being taught online when students in these groups cannot be ‘bubbled’ or maintained in pods, or teachers cannot move through many different groups.
  3. Limiting the time students and teachers spend in one room as the ‘viral load’ of this airborne disease accumulates over time in one shared space.

  Following these three principles gives AISB the best chance of preventing the transmission of COVID on campus and keeping our school doors open through these times of pandemic.

  Keeping Safe

  There have been no reports of any COVID cases on campus during this past week. Given the rate of infection in Romania currently, a confirmed case on campus is possible at any time. As a result of this, closure of pods or sections of the school is required by the Romanian authorities and we all need to be prepared for this eventuality.

  You can really help the school by continuing to keep your family safe off-campus. Different parents have contacted me with a range of concerns, for example, about social media posts of high schoolers meeting up in large groups and not following COVID-safe behaviors. We will talk with our students about this and ask for your help in reinforcing the same message: if we want our schools and our society to remain open and to have the best chance of getting back to normal, we need to support one another.

  In this spirit, please:

  • Keep your child at home if they are exhibiting any signs COVID.
  • Do not give medication to lower a fever and send your child to school.
  • Report any COVID infection to me at director@goaisb.ro or the School Doctor at apop@goaisb.ro

  Be safe and be well,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Monday, September 7 2020 at 15:31 PM

  Dear Parents,

  With one week now before we open our Main Campus to students, here are 5 things I would like to emphasise.

  Can you please: 

  #1
  Talk with your children about keeping safe at school and in particular, the importance of:

  • Wearing masks correctly.
    Here is the entertaining Elementary School video on mask-wearing.
  • Maintaining physical distancing. An easy way to explain this to students is that if you can reach out and touch someone, you’re too close to that person.
  • Regular hand washing and disinfection.

  It will be good to talk about how strange it may be for the first few days with all the new rules at school and agree that this will become normal the more we get used to it. It will be natural to want to rush up to people we have not seen in person for some time. Let’s think about those moments ahead of time and how we can handle them more safely. 

  #2
  Complete our parent and understanding and permissions form, if you have not done so already. This form is really important for our school to be able to operate during these times of pandemic.

  #3
  Complete our health and travel declaration form before sending your child(ren) to school. This form is requested from all parents to ensure that we keep any COVID infections off-campus. You can email this form to your respective section secretary or you can send it with your child on the morning they come to school.

  #4
  Familiarise yourself with our entrance and dismissal procedures

  Entering the campus – Watch this video on how our community members can enter the AISB campus through different gates and reach the ELC, Elementary, and Secondary School buildings. These routes have been organized so that every person entering campus goes through our temperature check and can get to where they are going safely, using one way to enter and another to exit.

  Due to safety measures, parents’ presence within the campus and it’s outside areas is not permitted. There are three exceptions to this rule:

  1. 1. Parents coming in for set appointments
     2. Parents entering the main campus parking lot to park or wait for dismissal of students
     3. Parents walking many students to school, who enter through the main campus and also have an ELC student. They will be allowed to transit the campus in order to reach the ELC (see the movie for directions on how to do this).

  Picking up your children at dismissal – Read through this document to see how your child will be dismissed. Please follow the chart to spot the arrangements for your child’s grade. 

  #4
  Finally, can you note that your entrance into the main parking lot is not permitted without the updated (red) car sticker and your entrance into the campus is not permitted without your ID badge. If you have not done so already, pick-up your new car sticker(s) and parent ID badge from our Main Reception. If you do not have a badge or you have lost it, email Ms. Catalina Gardescu at catalina@goaisb.ro

  Thank you,
  Peter Welch
  Director

• Monday, August 31 2020 at 15:17 PM

  Dear Parents,

  With just two weeks remaining before we welcome our students back to the Main Campus, I am sharing with you three important links.

  First, here is a link to our second video on opening our school safely. This video addresses 3 questions:

  • What are parent responsibilities with reporting COVID infections?
  • How will AISB handle information about COVID infections?
  • What options are there for COVID testing in Romania?

  Second, please click this link to our parent understanding and permission form. We kindly request all AISB families to complete this tick box form as soon as possible. The purpose of this form is to ensure that all families acknowledge their key responsibilities for keeping our community healthy and safe, and also to request permission for the recording of online classes to support all our students doing distance learning.

  Third, please read through our updated Reopening Plan, which incorporates the latest guidelines and rules from the Romanian authorities.

  With thanks,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Tuesday, August 18 2020 at 13:08 PM

  Dear Parents,

  For all of us starting the school year today online is a new experience. I hope that it has been great for your children to see each of their teachers and their friends again, even if only on a screen for now. It has certainly been good to see many in our community coming in to pick up resources. We can’t wait until we can see our students here in person.

  School Reopening Update
  
  On Thursday last week, Ms. Catalina Gardescu, our External Relations Manager, and I met with the Deputy Prime Minister, Ms, Raluca Turcan, and one of her Senior Counselors, Ms Liliana Romaniuc. Ms. Turcan is heading up the government task force on the reopening of schools in Romania. It was a positive and supportive conversation. We talked about the process of getting permission to open from the local health authority using the colour code system presented by President Klaus Johannis earlier this month. We were given assurances that, under this system, our school will be trusted to make the right decisions about reopening. The authorities are working in issuing national guidelines this week and we spoke in detail about different measures that might be included.
  As a result of this meeting, as long as the health situation in our local area does not significantly worsen, we are able to plan with confidence for in-person learning from September 14.

  In these times, opening a school with 1300 people on campus in one day is a detailed and complex challenge. We are using the coming weeks to plan through the operational adaptations that we need to make. We are doing our very best to ensure that, when we open our doors, we are able to stay open because we have planned everything carefully. In the days and weeks ahead we will begin to share individual videos and communications about how this will work for everyone. We await the national guidelines on reopening schools to finalise these plans and we will keep you updated.

  Here is some practical information about preparations to access the campus this year:

  Car Parking Stickers, 2020 – 2021
  
  We would like to invite you to pick up your parking stickers (if you haven’t done it already), between Monday and Friday next week. These stickers can be picked up at the School’s Reception. Ms. Nicoleta Pastravanu, our Receptionist is happy to help you.
  Your current parking permits are valid through August 31st. Attached is the form you will need to fill out in order to receive a parking sticker for up to three cars.

  You can bring it filled out or fill it out at school. When you arrive, here are the steps to follow:

  1. Come into the campus and park
  2. Put on your mask
  3. Go through the tent and sanitise your hands, then proceed to the Reception
  4. Go to the Reception window (in the foyer) and provide the form completed or request a form to complete (please take it back to your car or outside to complete so as not to crowd at Reception). Ms Pastravanu will give you the parking stickers once you have submitted the form completed and signed.

  Parent Badges
  We would like to take the opportunity to remind you to check that you still have the parent ID badge and that it is in good condition. If you have lost the badge or if you are new and don’t have one, please email our External Relations Manager, Ms Catalina Gardescu, at catalina@goaisb.ro.

  School Transportation
  If your child will come to school by bus, please see attached the offer of transportation valid for this year. Please write to the Excelsior Tour company (formerly Twins Tour) directly for details. The company has been briefed about our adapted schedule and the different pick-up and drop-off times for our students on the Adapted Model. As Excelsior Tour has had to reduce the number of students on each bus, availability of service is now limited. Please note that the service will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

  With best wishes for the new school year!
  Peter Welch
  Director

  ---

  Parking Sticker Form 2020-21

  ---

  Transportation Package 2020 – 21 Excelsior Tour

• Tuesday, August 11 2020 at 11:17 AM

  Dear Parents,

  This week, we welcomed back the entire professional team for our faculty orientation. We have the full complement of faculty with us, which is excellent. Even with a slight drop in enrolment due to the current health crisis, the faculty team has been maintained at the same level as last year in order to preserve the quality of what we do and to limit class sizes under our Adapted Model.

  We are all determined to make the very best of this challenging situation. Our new colleagues have been remarkably positive and resilient. A week today, on Tuesday 18th August, we will start the academic year online. While this is not ideal, we are ready to engage and inspire our students. We are excited to get to know our new community members.

  Opening the School

  We still await a government decision on whether we will be empowered to make independent decisions about when to open. The latest communications give us cause for optimism that we will open our doors on September 14. Government policy is emerging, but not confirmed, that will give local authorities the right to open schools based on the number of COVID infections in our area. While we do not have any further details yet, all current indications are schools in greater Bucharest may be able to be open using a form of hybrid learning, which is a mix of in-person and online teaching.

  We are using this time to ensure that our Adapted Model of hybrid learning (Reopening Plan, Page 11) will be delivered safely and smoothly. There are scheduling complexities that we are working through. To ensure a healthy environment, our two central questions are:

  1. How do we prevent people with COVID symptoms coming onto campus?
  2. For people who do not have COVID symptoms (being ‘asymptomatic’) but still carry the virus, how do we prevent them from transmitting the virus on campus?

  
  The First Question – Getting Ready for Reopening the Campus

  For the first question, we need the support of the whole community to ensure:

  • We all adopt healthy and safe behaviours in our everyday lives.
  • When we open, students who exhibit COVID symptoms or come from households in which others have symptoms are kept at home until it is safe for them to come.
  • We all follow the school health protocols, especially the wearing of masks, and prepare our students to follow the rules.

  We will develop a series of community videos that have simple explanations of what students can expect when they come to campus. As we get closer to September 14, we will communicate all that you need to know in terms of the schedule, the drop-off and pick-ups as well as transportation options you may want to use. There will be opportunities to talk with me and our Principals about our plans and to ask questions.

  We have upgraded our health infrastructure to prepare for reopening the campus. The photos below show the new acclimatisation tents at the entrance to the Main Campus and the ELC and the thermal scanners we have installed. You can see one of the many new hand disinfection units that are all over the school, sinks for hand washing and an example of the new signage. We are also creating a medical isolation unit on campus for community members who show symptoms of COVID while on campus.

  

  The Second Question – Using the Adapted Model

  Under the Adapted Model, we will prevent the asymptomatic transmission of the virus on campus by:

  • Limiting student class sizes and contact across classes
  • Limiting the time spent by one group in one room
  • Ensuring good ventilation in each room and getting students outside when we can
  • Restricting the number of adults interacting with a student group
  • Following regular disinfection protocols and ensuring regular hand washing and hand sanitising habits.
  • Requiring the wearing of masks on campus
  • Maintaining physical distancing between community members as far as possible

  As we know, applying these healthy principles to how we operate is a game-changer for our learning programme. While there will be inconveniences and potential frustrations for all of us, these principles cannot be compromised if we are to keep our community safe while learning on campus.

  In the days ahead, you will be receiving practical information about the start of the year, including how to collect school resources in the first part of next week.

  With best wishes to everyone,

  Peter Welch
  Director

   

• Monday, August 3 2020 at 12:56 PM

  Dear Parents,

  I am writing to further update you on our plans for reopening for the academic year 2020-21. We want to provide as much clarity as we can, so you can plan ahead, which is why this is a rather long communication.

  This is the current situation: we have applied to the highest levels of government to be empowered to make independent decisions about reopening our campus to students. We understand that our application is being assessed. We do not have a formal response at this point.

  As many of you may know, there is a national debate on the reopening of school in Romania – how to do it, when to do it and whether to give autonomy to individual districts and schools. Officially, all schools are closed until the beginning of the Romanian school year on September 14. The government has stated that it will make decisions and articulate guidelines at the end of August.

  All of us at AISB want to welcome students to campus as soon we have approval and it is safe to do so. While we will continue to deliver a high-quality distance learning programme, we understand that our students need to be back together with each other and their teachers for their well being and their learning. We miss our students.

  Our Roadmap for August and September

  This is our roadmap for the weeks ahead, based on the current situation:

  • We will open the year on Tuesday 18 August as planned using Distance Learning. Before this online restart, we will communicate with you:
    • How students can collect the learning resources they will need from campus
    • Our updated Distance Learning Programme for the first weeks of school
  • For our new families, we will do an online orientation programme for Secondary students on Friday, 14th August and for ELC and Elementary students on Monday 17 August.
  • As soon as we have authorisation and it is safe to do so, we will transition to the Adapted Model of learning, described in our Reopening Plan. Currently, we are targeting September 14th as the date that we will move to this model. The Adapted Model provides a balanced approach between face-to-face on-campus learning with some continued distance learning. It is based on our 7 Principles of Wellbeing as described in the Reopening Plan in particular, carefully limiting student group size and the mixing of students across groups and grades.
  • Before September 14, we will continue rigorously preparing for the complex logistics of opening our campus to students. We continue upgrading our health infrastructure, which includes new thermo-scanners, COVID signage, a medical isolation room and more handwashing and disinfection stations. In addition, we are exploring the practicalities and effectiveness of COVID testing to keep our community safe.
  • The rate of COVID infection in Romania continues to be concerning. We will monitor the local health situation carefully and make a final decision to open the campus to students if we judge that it is safe to do so. When the Romanian authorities publish their guidelines for schools, we will update the Reopening Plan if necessary, to respond to the local evolution of COVID. We will explain any changes that we make and continue to answer your questions.

  Listening to You

  There was an excellent 80% response rate to the July parent survey. Thank you. From those who responded, we learned that 87% of our students would be able to attend school from August 18 having followed self-isolation protocols as required. Parents representing 73% of the  sample are comfortable sending their children to school in the current health situation. These statistics did not vary significantly across the age range. There were many individual comments from parents noting that they may change their viewpoint based on how the pandemic evolves in the weeks ahead. There continues to be a range of parent views on the severity and risks of this COVID-19 pandemic.

  It is the school’s responsibility to make decisions based on the best available evidence. The decisions that we make will prioritise the safety of our community given the seriousness of the health risks. When we open our doors, we will do everything we can to reassure families that remain anxious. If parents would still prefer a continued distance learning option, we will do our best to accommodate these requests in a way that our professional team can manage reasonably. If we ‘livestream’ a classroom, for example, then students can participate from home. However, this solution has several technical issues and works better for older students who are more independent. This is just one of the operational complexities that all schools will be seeking to manage in the year ahead.

  Faculty Orientation

  Our professional team has responded magnificently to these unusual times. For our students to feel safe, happy and supported at school, our staff and teachers have to feel the same things. It is our teachers who need to project positive energy and care for our students that will sustain them.

  Given the complications of world travel presently, I am pleased to share that by mid-August our faculty team will be here in Bucharest and ready to go. We have welcomed an excellent new faculty group from overseas, many of whom have braved multiple flight cancellations and quarantine periods on the way. They are a resilient and optimistic group who are very much looking forward to meeting our students.

  In the first weeks of August, the faculty will prioritise conversations about the social and emotional care of our students, the enhancements we want to make to our Distance Learning programme and how we get ready to deliver the Adapted Model of learning.

  What We Can Learn from Around the World About Reopening Schools
  
  In closing, I want to briefly share what we are learning from schools that have reopened during this pandemic across the world. Scientific studies are still preliminary, and, in some cases, the results are not aligned. We know that some countries that have managed a phased reopening process very well, such as Norway and Denmark. In these societies, reopening schools did not generally affect the level of COVID infections. In other countries, such as Israel, the opening of schools caused a spike in new infections, so much so that they had to be closed again. In all these three counties, prior to reopening, the level of COVID infections was relatively low and controlled.

  The emerging science indicates that children under ten years old are less vulnerable to the effects of COVID and that they may not transmit the virus so easily. However, a recent study out of Chicago demonstrated that even young children can carry a high viral load. It seems probable that children over ten can transmit the virus as easily as an adult. Some better news is that trials for vaccines are proceeding faster than was first anticipated.

  Our success as a school this year, more than ever, depends on the actions of our entire community – colleagues, students and parents alike. We all have a personal responsibility to do our part to try to stay healthy and help others stay healthy. If we all commit to doing what is required, at home and school, that will greatly increase the likelihood that our students can spend more time at the campus as opposed to distance learning.

  Please keep safe,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 01:15 PM

  Dear Parents,

  I hope that wherever this message finds you that you are enjoying your summer. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the new families joining our school this year. As we navigate these challenging times together, we are here to support you and your children’s successful integration into our community. As promised, I am writing with a mid-summer update on the local situation for opening schools again and AISB’s planning for next year, 2020-21.

  As you will probably know, the COVID-19 infection rate within Romania has continued to climb through the summer. Last week, the local authorities recorded the highest number of daily cases reported since the start of the pandemic (889). The official health data indicates that this daily caseload will continue to increase through to mid-August. According to the official data in Romania, as of July 28, 36,691 cases have been confirmed with 2,009 fatalities. There are currently 4,260 cases that have been diagnosed in Bucharest. On Wednesday, July 15, the government determined to extend the current state of alert in Romania by another 30 days, from July 17, stepping back from further relaxation measures.

  On July 6, Health Minister Nelu Tataru said that a decision on reopening schools would be taken at the end of August. Deputy Prime Minister Raluca Turcan is leading an inter-ministerial working group on school reopening. Initial comments from government sources, reflecting the current high concern over the increasing infection rate, are dampening down expectations for full reopening when the Romanian school year starts on September 14.

  We are in the process of appealing to the government to be empowered to make independent decisions about how and when we open our school. Our appeal is based on our careful reopening planning and our ability to ensure safe and healthy educational practices. Even if we are approved to take independent decisions, we will weigh a decision to reopen for face-to-face lessons very carefully, given the current health situation.

  To help with our planning, I would like to ask for your input. We would like to know two things from all our families. First, it would be helpful to know how many students would be able to attend school from our official first day on Tuesday, August 18. This question is exploring how many families are facing relocation issues and how many families will still need to be in self-isolation at this time having travelled during the summer. Second, we would like to know how many families would be willing to send their children to campus from Tuesday, August 18, given the current health situation in Romania.

  Please take 2 minutes to complete this important survey to help us with our planning. Your input would be greatly appreciated as soon as possible. The survey will be open until Monday 27th July.

  As we think ahead to this next year, while there are optimistic signs about the development of a vaccine, we know that we will be living with this pandemic for some time. Our overriding priority is to keep everyone in our community safe while doing our very best to provide an excellent educational experience online and in-person. We know that we will need to take a flexible and creative approach to do this well.

  Once I have received a decision from the government on whether we can act independently, read your input and consulted with the professional team and the AISB Board, I will communicate our decision on the start of school to you as soon as I am able to in the first week of August and by Tuesday, 4th August at the very latest.

  With best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Friday, May 15, 2020 at 11:15 AM

  Dear Parents,

  With the state of emergency ending today, May 15, and Romania moving to a new state of alert, we can all look forward to more freedom of movement after many long weeks of home isolation. While many of us notice that life is already opening up in Bucharest, and we can see many people wanting to go back to normal, we need to continue to exercise considerable caution in the weeks ahead. As President Iohannis stated, this week, ‘Unfortunately, the COVID-19 epidemic is still among us. This is not the time to relax too much.’
  The President’s statement from earlier this week is here. In this statement, he makes it clear that it is mandatory to wear a mask that covers the mouth and nose when we are indoors in a social situation, such as in a store. It is also mandatory to keep a distance between people of 1.5 meters, which means the distance of two arms. Hand hygiene remains mandatory and is extremely important. We must wash our hands as often as possible and always when we come home from the store or from any activity outside.

  End of Year Processes

  We are organising different online events to celebrate our students at the end of the year. This week’s wonderful online PYP Exhibition for Grade 5 shows showed how great these events can be. As you will have seen, we are offering different transition workshops for our parents. Our teachers and counsellors will put together online events to say goodbye and provide a sense of closure after such a challenging and unusual year.

  We are planning practical solutions for how students and families can, as needed, come in your cars to campus at the end of the year to collect personal items and drop-off school resources. We need to limit the numbers on campus at one time and ensure the safety of everyone. This is obviously a complicated logistical exercise in a community of over one thousand students. We will share a detailed schedule and a flow for parents and students within the next two weeks.

  Planning Ahead – Working Groups

  We have established four different working groups to plan for the reopening of the school in detail.

  Health & Safety Group. This group will design and implement health and safety protocols for when we reopen the school. This team is also looking into investments we will need to make into the health infrastructure of the school, such as in health assessment equipment on arrival, furniture for physical distancing, masks, visors and signage. The key questions are, how do we screen everyone who comes on campus efficiently and reliably? How do we ensure that people who are asymptomatic do not transmit the virus to others on campus?
  Educational Innovation Group. This team is exploring the need to adapt our programme to ensure physical distancing and safe learning next year. It will address daily procedures, schedules and classroom adaptations. We are learning from the experience of other international schools around the world that have been opening up again.
  Social and Emotional Support Group. This group is developing best practice for supporting the well being of our community in respect to transitions, providing closure, coping with anxiety and building resilience. It will also look at the support practices that we will need for next year as well.
  Orientation & Start of the Year Group. This team is exploring how we run our orientation programme for new teachers, for faculty and for students and families next year. It will also plan for the first days of the school year and how we manage all these community-building events.

  The AISB Board will hold a virtual Annual General Meeting on May 27th. If you have not registered for this yet and would like to, please go to this form. The Board will provide an overview of the school’s strategy and financial position. During this meeting, I will address school operational issues and your questions and update you on this planning ahead.

  Last but not least, I would like to thank our tireless PTO for their continued support.  Later today you will receive a message that launches the first even PTO Online Auction to benefit the school scholarship students and the PTO Grants fund. I hope to see many of you there.  Thank you to the PTO and to all of our gracious sponsors for making this possible.

  With best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Thursday, April 28, 2020 at 01:25 PM

  Dear Parents,

  Yesterday, President Iohannis formally announced that schools and universities in Romania will remain closed until the end of this academic year for overriding health reasons during this pandemic. You can read a transcript of his full statement here. This is national policy that our school is required to follow.

  AISB will continue with its distance learning programme until the end of the academic year. As you know, the end of a normal AISB school year is filled with celebratory events and important processes to support students with transitions to new grades or new schools.  Our professional team will now plan for how to provide a sense of closure for them for their learning, and on a practical and personal level.

  The President announced that schools will reopen in September, following the normal academic calendar for Romania. At AISB, we will plan to reopen for our first day of school on August 18 as normal. We will verify if there are any issues with this earlier start from a regulatory point of view and confirm this date as soon as we can. With this time frame, we can ensure that when we reopen the campus we will have the best possible health and safety protocols in place.

  In the days ahead we will share further information about school events for the rest of the year, how we are planning for a healthy, positive start for next year and provide an opportunity for you to ask any questions that you have.

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Sunday, April 26, 2020 at 02:36 PM

  Dear Parents,

  I hope you enjoyed the April break and everybody in your family found time to get offline properly. For some students, having had a few days sleeping in, or having a very different routine, they will need your help to tune back into our Distance Learning Programme. Please talk with them about their schedule for the week. Support them with the process of being on time and re-engaging with their learning tomorrow morning.

  When and How Can We Reopen Schools?

  What we currently know is that we will be continuing with distance learning for at least the next three weeks, until the current State of Emergency in Romania ends. European leaders are thinking through how to reopen their economies and restart society. Romanian leaders are also projecting forward to an easing of the current lock-down, depending on how the rate of infection tracks after the Easter celebrations.

  As of yesterday, April 25, in Romania, 10,635 cases of people infected with COVID-19 have been confirmed. Of the positively confirmed persons, 2,890 have been declared cured and discharged. There have been 575 fatalities as of this morning. Bucharest has 1,150 confirmed cases of the virus.

  When and how schools can re-open in Romania is under discussion. AISB will follow directives from the government, when they come. There are unofficial comments from government ministers that the current school year will be finished in some form, but this ambition needs to be balanced with realism about how we can do this safely. How schools will operate to ensure the health and safety of our communities is a very complex question. You may have seen news reports about schools reopening in China or Denmark and how they are teaching and learning while maintaining ‘social distancing’. Not easy, or normal.

  While the health risks for children being exposed to COVID-19 are extremely low, they can obviously transmit infections to adults within the school community and at home who may be at a higher risk. We need to be particularly mindful of protecting those in our wider community who are over sixty years old, or who have pre-existing health conditions that make them more vulnerable.

  Planning Ahead

  What we are understanding is that we are going to be living with this pandemic for some time to come. All institutions, including schools, are going to have to make some fundamental adaptations to how we operate, likely for much of next year, possibly beyond that time frame.

  The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has been leading the COVID-19 response at the epicentre of global infections. He has likened this crisis to trying to navigate a river in flood, jumping from rock to rock. As events have moved so fast, leadership is about ensuring that you travel forward and that the next rock is stable enough to stand on without falling in. We can’t look too far ahead because the river will change where the safe rocks are all the time.

  I think this makes sense. This crisis has been a strict teacher for understanding what we can and cannot control. Our intention is to focus on distance learning until we can re-open. We are planning for that reopening to be based on best practices for health and safety and social distancing that we can research and implement. We will give you all the facts that we have about this reopening and our procedures so you can make the best decisions for you and your family. In the next few weeks, after working with the Board of Trustees, I will share our strategic thinking about the adaptations AISB will put into place for next year.

  Parent Talk this Week

  For those who are interested, this week I will be doing an online talk about ‘Learning and the Brain’, discussing insights from neuroscience. This is such a fascinating subject and a practical one, too, particularly at this time when we are all renegotiating how best to deliver effective learning. This talk will take place this coming Thursday, April 30th, at 4.30 pm. Please sign-up for this talk here by the end of Tuesday and I will send you the Zoom meeting details.

  If there is sufficient interest, I can extend to parents the ‘History of Modern Art’ talks that I have been doing online for our professional community. Further details and a sign-up form is here.

  With best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch
  Director